Friday, 16 February 2018

Even though a huge chunk of my wardrobe is made up of prints (I'm a slut for black x navy prints), I'm gonna have to vote for Team Solid. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons...

A few of my favourite coordinates with solid dresses.

1) Solids are perfect for daily wear.

Solids are easy to wear on a daily basis because they're way easier to camouflage as normie wear - a plain black OP wouldn't attract nearly as much attention as something like Milky Planet. You don't need to worry about matching accessories to the colours in the print, since you can match them with nearly anything and call it a day. Solids are so easy to coordinate, and so versatile in that you can pair them with plain or printed accessories in much wider range of colours.

The best part - if you throw them in the wash, you don't have to worry so much about bleeding colours or melting screen prints! Nothing sadder than watching Berry Bunny turn into Bloody Bunny because you forgot your colour catcher sheet.

2) Solids are accessible.

Solids are plentiful and cheap - in the age of prints, the value of a lot of solid dresses has decreased significantly. It's easy to find perfectly wearable dresses in good condition for $100 or less, especially on Japanese auction sites. This makes solid dresses a great option for anyone who is looking to pad out a wardrobe with more "wearable" everyday pieces, or for newbies who aren't fully confident in their ability to coordinate.

One of the most painful things about lolita fashion is waiting months (if not years) for a rare print series to come up for sale. While some solid dresses are extremely hard to find, especially if they're old, very few are as sought after as the holy grail print dresses, and rarely command ridiculously high prices. Even pricier brands like Atelier Boz and Moitie tend to hover around retail or lower for their solid dresses.

3) Solids showcase good design.

I think solids allow the craftsmanship, design, and creativity to shine. It's easy to create a great illustration (well, it's not - but you know what I'm getting at) and slap it on a boring dress and call it a day. Creating a visually interesting, creative dress without using prints is a little trickier since designers have to rely on arranging generic detailing like ruffles, pintucks, etc. in a unique way. Playing with different textures, transclucent fabrics, asymmetry, layering, removable parts...there are lots of ways to make a dress interesting without using a print.

Newbies to lolita may not know this, but early lolita was nowhere
near as print-centric as it is right now. In the early-to-mid-2000s the
overwhelming majority of dresses across all substyles were solids.
Details were typically added with contrasting fabric and trims,
appliques, and patterened or textured fabrics. Prints, if used at all,
were usually simple border prints.

I think it's a bit strange that lolita has become so hyperfocused on
prints to the point that people will buy a dress purely because of the
print and not because of the fit, cut, or details...which are also
important parts of lolita fashion. A lot of cheaper Taobao brands pump out cute, unique,
well-drawn prints at a breakneck pace but take shortcuts with quality
and overall design...essentially, slapping a cute print on a badly sewn, badly
designed dress. Great concept, poor execution.

Don't take this as me hating on Taobao prints, or prints in general. I just frown when I see people focusing on a gimmicky print at the expense of...well, everything else. Prints aren't everything, and that's coming from someone who is desperately trying to collect every single cut and colourway of Silent Moon and Iron Gate.

It is what it is - there's a place for both solids and prints in lolita, and even if I sound salty about print supremacy...the truth is that I'm still a slut for prints and will continue to hoard favourites even though I mostly buy solids now.

1 comment:

I prefer solids, not just with lolita, but with my entire wardrobe. I agree with all your points. I also just find them prettier, somehow. That's not to say I don't like prints at all...just...There's something about the allure of plain ol' colors. Particularly black. Guh. So pretty~!